john conyers was a spirit. i sometimes thought of him as kind of a hippie buzz he had these ethereal thoughts about the way people ought to be and about caring about people and about justice and about civil rights that was unlike thoughts you'd hear from most people but he was ahead of the hippies. he was ahead of bernie sanders. he was ahead of so many people. we talk here today so many people about him being -- which is all true -- longest serving african-american member of congress. but it was more than that. he was a voice for truth on this floor before people realized the truth was the truth. he was a voice for truth when people just though he was an african-american guy talking about african-american issues. but it wasn't african-american issue, it was human issues. it was the essence of america, about justice and freedom and opportunity and right and he espoused it at an early time when a lot of people didn't get it. people get it now they realize dr. king got a holiday. dr. king was great. but people ha

congressman conyers. congressman john conyers. [applause] >> [indiscernible] brothers and sisters let's give john cavanagh and karen dolan a round of applause for tonight to start off with. [applause] nothing could make me feel better than to have danny glover, steve cohen, jan schakowsky charlie rangel, julian bond, alan grayson marcus raskin, and barbara lee sending a note here with us tonight. what a gathering of all of the people in the struggle to make this country and the world a better place. now i have been influenced by the one man that shaped my conduct in so many ways, martin luther king, jr. jobs justice and i am talking about political justice and economic justice and then finally, peace. jobs, justice, and peace. it is not hard to put a philosophy of that kind into political action. and guess what? we are making progress. there is only one problem. thanks to digital computers technology websites,, the world is getting to be a more dangerous place. it is not a matter of whether you are willing to go to jail or take a

congressman john conyers. but i did want to share a few thoughts about my dear friend. yesterday, i had the privilege of attending congressman conyers' portrait unveiling in the judiciary committee room along with vice president joe biden. believe it or not, congressman conyers has now become the dean of the u.s. house of representatives having served 50 years." [applause] "he is the first african american of only one of seven other members to have served their nation for more than five decades. far from taking it easy, which is something he has more than earned, congressman conyers is still leading the charge for american families, not only as ranking member on the judiciary, but also as a founding member of the congressional black caucus and our true progressive champion in the progressive caucus and house. we all know congressman conyers stands for justice and issues a strong clarion call for social justice, economic justice, and criminal justice reform. over his 50 years in the house congressman conyers ha

[laughter] that is a tremendous complement to john conyers. thank you, john conyers. [applause] >> was going to pull the string? >> i'm going to bring up your family now. this is monica conyers. john conyers iii. carl conyers. give them a round of applause. [applause] all set? let's make sure we get this right. >>. go. -- >> here we go. [applause] >> that is good. >> great. >> if you don't mind, i've been asked if i could get everyone's attention for one moment because it is appropriate that we started with invocation and it is appropriate that we end with benediction. the benediction is not the end. it is really the beginning. it is when you turn out and do the work that we are here to do. ladies and gentlemen, let me bring forth the bishop of and senior pastor of greater grace temple of detroit michigan. bishop charles ellis iii for the benediction. >> as we bring this portion of the event and this sacred unveiling of this portrait, i asked that you touch each other and connect one with the other. where there is unity, there is strength. [indiscernible] lord, we tha

john conyers was a spirit. i sometimes thought of him as kind of a hippie buzz he had these ethereal thoughts about the way people ought to be and about caring about people and about justice and about civil rights that was unlike thoughts you'd hear from most people but he was ahead of the hippies. he was ahead of bernie sanders. he was ahead of so many people. we talk here today so many people about him being -- which is all true -- longest serving african-american member of congress. but it was more than that. he was a voice for truth on this floor before people realized the truth was the truth. he was a voice for truth when people just though he was an african-american guy talking about african-american issues. but it wasn't african-american issue, it was human issues. it was the essence of america, about justice and freedom and opportunity and right and he espoused it at an early time when a lot of people didn't get it. people get it now they realize dr. king got a holiday. dr. king was great. but people ha

and that is a tremendous compliment to john conyers. thank you john conyers. [ applause ] >> who is going to pull the string? >> i'm going to bring up your family now. >> okay. >> all right. and this is monica conyers. would you come up please? john conyers iii and also carl conyers. give them all a round of applause and present them. [ applause ] and i'm sorry, what did you want? oh, okay. oh, is this how they do it? oh. all right. all set. make sure we get this right. >> all right. here we go. >> here we go. [ applause ] >> does he get to speak? conyers get to speak? >> i'm sure he'll get to say something. >> all right. all right. >> okay. >> benediction time. >> all right. >> benediction. >> hey -- if you don't mind, we're going to -- i've been asked if i could just get everyone's attention for one moment because it is appropriate that we started with invocation and it is appropriate that we end with benediction. and as you know the benediction is not the end, it's really the beginning. it's when you turn out and do the work that we'

[laughter] and that is a tremendous complement to john conyers -- compliment to john conyers. thank you, john. [applause] >> who is going to pull the string? >> i'm going to bring up your family now. this is monica conyers. come up, please. john conyers the third. also carl conyers. give them a round of applause. [applause] i'm sorry, what did you want? oh ok. is this how they do it? alsol set? >> here we go. >> here we go. [applause] [inaudible conversation[ ] [inaudible conversation] >> does conyers get to speak? >> he showed. -- should. >> if you don't mind, i have been asked if i could just get everyone's attention for one moment. because it is appropriate that we started with invocation, it is appropriate we end with benediction. as you know, the benediction is not the end, it's really the beginning. it is when you turn out and do the work we are here to do. ladies and gentlemen, let me bring forth the bishop and senior pastor of greater grace temple of detroit, michigan bishop charles ellis the third for the benediction. >> as we bring this portion of this event and this

worshipped at the shrine of john conyers. worshipped at the shrine of john conyers. but everybody saw that ron dellums was way out there and the rest, and he was determined to come to congress and look very regular and not too menacing to some people who might think he was too left wing, if that's the word. so he comes to congress. he's all set. he's got his suit. he's all ready for the next day. and he's going to go in there on the floor and everybody's going to say, hey, i can identify with him. he's a regular guy. and he gets a call the night before from john conyers. i don't know if this is even true, but this is the -- ron's story. he says he's all set. got his clothes out there. you know how precise he was. and he said, john con engineers called me and asked me if i would nominate him for speaker against carl albert the next morning. what do you say, man? regular order, you know, of course, what john conyers says, ron dellums does. so this man has been a disrupter from the start. and thank god he has been a disrupter fr

john conyers is 90. the governor, the lieutenant governor, the centers, the members of the house of representatives, the leaders of the congressional black caucus, the mayor, the county executive, the chief federal judge, reverend jackson, professor michael eric dyson would deliver the eulogy. don't worry. it says professor but it means preacher. you'll be just fine. i'd like to thank the people of detroit for electing him 27 times. [applause] i'd like to thank you for giving him space and the support, not just to faithfully represent this district, but to represent people all across our country, and even around the world, on the things that we should all care about. he was out there banging the drum against apartheid in south africa long before it was a widely popular cause. [applause] he always supported the people of haiti, even when he could not support their government. he said the people deserve a better deal, and the united states should be a good neighbor. [applause] he worked for all of our citi

john conyers, gone. joining me now to discuss patrick healey, cnn political analyst and cnn political commentators amanda carpeter and patty solis doyle. nancy pelosi ultimately did call for him to step down, the speaker of the house paul ryan did call for john conyers to step down and then just now, after a somewhat meandering intro right there, john conyers made clear that he is leaving the house of representatives and incidentally endorsing his son to replace him. >> yeah. i don't know what to make of this interview. it seems like he's -- he was completely unaware of the current environment we're living in, where men are -- who are accused of sexual harassment are losing their jobs, are being au stro sized or rooung, harvey weinstein and kevin spacey, and he just seems completely unaware he's choosing to retire rather than resign and me, as a woman, as a mother, that really angers me. we have several credible women accusing him of sexual harassment and he is -- he clearly did a very friendly interview

memories ofnduring john conyers that are entirely personal. one was when he and his beautifully dressed young friend there went with me or took me to , because i auto show was -- as a kid, i grew up dad'sg around, with my old buick business in a town of 6000, and later when he moved and ran the parts department, my job was to take inventory. it was a big deal back then. i can remember when you could still fix your own car, and everything is automated, and it was a car. you were supposed to be able to fix it if you bought it. the second thing i remember is that in an incredible gift, he got lionel hampton, who was then nearing 90, to come play for me at the white house, and -- [applause] former pres. clinton: it was ,998, and the band was there and no longer young, he was still in great form, and he asked me to sit in with the band, and i think we played "my sunny valentine," but here is the interesting thing. i thought a lot about this. jazz is an interesting form of music. there is a tune you have to know , a key you have got to play it in, a

john conyers coming back and ethics investigation ongoing for john conyers, but not yet, right? not yet for al franken. what do we know about those, first of all, the conyers investigation, where is that at? why hasn't the al franken ethics investigation started yet? >> as far as the conyers investigation is concerned, the house committee on ethics says that is open. people are saying these things can take a very long time and they're calling for the ethics committee to do this quickly and not in their slow pace that normally happens. as far as the senate ethics committee and al franken, democrats and republicans and even al franken has said, okay, please open an ethics investigation and i will cooperate. and we will see how that progresses. how quickly that progresses. it will be interesting to see what al franken says tomorrow. what he tells reporters. he's always been quite shy with the national press in the past year. so, after he won re-election he's been more open with national reporters. we'll see if he takes questions. i know that there's going to be press surrounding hi

john conyers is an icon in our country. he's done a great deal to protect women in the violence against women act, which the right-wing is now quoting me as praising him for his work on that. he did great work on that. but the fact is as genjohn revi his kay -- >> how is it that you don't? >> he will do the right thing. >> the right thing, resign? >> he will do the right thing in terms of what he knows about his situation. he is entitled to due process, but women are entitled to due process as well. >> he took advantage of a situation where he had -- the rules of congress and i know you guys want to change these rules, but he got to hide his settlement. his accusers had to go through all sorts of craziness so why is he entitled to new due process in this case? >> we are talking about what we have heard. i've asked the ethics committee to review that. he has said he will be open -- he will cooperate with any review. >> do you believe john conyers' accusers. >> i don't know who they are. they have not really come forward. >>

mistakes and taking responsibility, john conyers is saying he has -- nyi. we have additional sound from senator franken where he talks about the allegations where he touched women's behinds while taking pictures. let's go ahead and play that and i'll come to you on the other side. >> i take pictures with thousands of people. i would never intentionally do that and so -- but that does not negate -- my intention isn't what is important. what is important is we have to listen to women and respect what they say. >> so al franken draws a fine line there. he talks about his intention, he didn't do it intentionally but as you heard he says that is not important. he draws the focus back to the feelings of the women who were at the receiving end of this and says that is the most important. i will say over the course of the past week after these allegations came out, senator al franken has received support from women. first he received a letter -- there was a letter that came out from about a dozen of his former staff who said it was one of the best work environments

john conyers is an icon in this country. as he reviews his case, which he knows, i don't -- >> how could you -- >> may i finish? that he will do the right thing. >> nancy pelosi on the allegations of sexual harassment against democratic congressman john conyers. joining me now, democratic congressman. dan killdy, a member of the house financial services committee. good to see you. the "detroit free press" calling on john conyers to resign. what is your view on that? how do you think the allegations against your fellow michigan congressman should be handled? >> first of all, i would say this is a very serious situation and has to be take within that kind of seriousness and i think representative conyers will have a decision to make. i think the important thing that we do is get the facts, allow ourself to take a look at the facts in the light of day and make a determination as to whether or not congress or our caucus should take some action. but ultimately, i think this is also a situation where congressman conyers is going t

we did not have the opportunity to cover john conyers. but i will be back with my partner ali velshi and i assure you we'll cover it now. >>> good morning. we are following breaking news that hits very close to home for our nbc family. matt lauer fired. nbc news announcing the long time host of the "today" show has been let go after receiving a complaint from a colleague about what's described as inappropriate sexual behavior. and in washington, all eyes on john conyers, will the embattled democrat step down in the face of more accusations of improper behavior. democratic leaders to face the camera this hour. it north korea remains defiant in the face of worldwide condemnation, after north korea fired it's most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile ever and claiming that the united states is now within reach. and paul ryan about to speak about the tax bill that has just passed the senate. and we're likely to hear questions got john conyers now called on to resign. we begin with the breaking news, a stunning announcement just hours a

john conyers, those are the people who were fired by their bosses. john conyers' bosses are the voters. they elected him. nobody can fire a member of congress. but you have a process by which the leadership of your party can pressure you to step aside. whether representative conyers came up with that decision himself or was pressured by nancy pelosi and the leadership, we don't know at this point. but something had to give, given the environment we're in right now. >> i want to get into comparisons with the roy moore situation in just a moment. but john's last point there, kimberly, conyers says he's stepping aside on his own, but what are the political implications for the democrats? >> john conyers' announcement saved nancy pelosi a little bit, she seemed to be calling him an icon and calling for due process while at the same time saying i don't know these women. that's precisely the wrong message that leaders in congress ought to be giving, especially given that this has landed squarely at the capitol, the attitude should be sexual harassment of a

makes claims that when she worked for john conyers she was abused. she said she was not abused but she was, did recount walking to his office and he was sitting in his underwear. i don't know exactly how that doesn't fall into the category. the fact is she said she rang all the bells, all the alarms, she went to gebhardt's office and she alerted everyone. all of it should be investigated and we should find out where the breakdowns occurred. it is very serious. >> bret: let's be honest, this policy, the process, if you are an accuser to go through on capitol hill is arcane and it's kind of ridiculous. >> to think so many of these people are sitting around lecturing the rest of america about how they should handle these sorts of situations, it's pretty comical. >> bret: let's play the sound bite from the candidates in the alabama senate race, roy moore and doug jones. >> i think the establishment consists in the democrats and republicans want to keep the same people in there. they didn't want a conservative rebel they couldn't manage. i've never been m

john conyers. i'm retiring today, endorsing his son, john conyers iii to take his seat in congress. he told the radio host interviewing him locally there he takes the allegations in stride. he says it's the game of politics that we're in. his legacy, he said, can't be compromised. this, too, shall pass. his legacy, he said, will continue through his children. >> bill: it's been in the headlines for so many days now. he stepped down from his post as the democratic leader on the house judiciary committee. so that was really the first move and the first indication he was starting to yield to some pressure from his colleagues on the democratic side. >> sandra: it's been a long time coming. we have been told of multiple announcements. today was the day. we anticipated he would be stepping down and sure enough john conyers announcing i'm retiring today from his hospital room in detroit. we have a reporter on the ground there that will go to that -- listen to that interview and was there. but meanwhile, bill, this has been coming. >> bill: some of these women who have come forward, some of

i think there has to be -- john conyers is an icon in our country. he has done a great deal to protect women, violence against women act. >> he got to hide his settlement. his accusers had to go through all sorts of craziness. why is he entitled to new due process in this case? >> no. we are talking about what we have heard. i have asked the ethics committee to review that. >> yeah. >> he has said he would be open -- he will cooperate. >> do you believe john conyers' accusers? >> i don't know who they are, do you? they have not really come forward. >> so you don't know if you believe the accusations? >> well, that's for the ethics committee to review. >> sean: i stand consistent. i say never rush to judgment. i say everybody deserves the presumption of innocence and i stand by that in this particular case. but it is funny that congresswoman pelosi only seems to care about due process, but only when democrats are involved. during that same interview pelosi was asked about a comment she made in 1998 then host of "meet the press" tim russert asked her a

and john conyers hez!v/ sends you Òk1uñf regards. for some of us that's a lot oxçdx history in the >johroom. the vice president has spoken to eloquently about the conyers association with she convinced, itw&'t take much i'm n sure, reverend martin luther king, jr. to endorse johnbh@zÑ conyers for public office. the onl{sonb king, jr. ever>%"zñ endorsed for public office. what more do you need to know. what more do you need to know.@3úeq that the vice president and john conyers are here with their values, violence against womeng÷ act that relates it hate crimes, Ñ+ gun safety, alláiba f theínb things that have been a struggle>sç@ñ of security and civil rights and the rest. they have championed. to protect us, but to protect our rights at the same time. so i just have to say this one story, you tell me if it is appropriate or not. i just can't resist.<<"?ñ so we1 proprietary about john conyers. whether it is copyright or whatever it is. he led<í!+c the prayers in the07ru catholic church this morning. you didn't know that di

nancy pelosi got john conyers to step aside. she foreshadowed that. he is being held accountable for the settlement he has with at least one woman staffer, as he should be and any others that are revealed. john conyers is being held accountable and exactly what should happen here. >> bill: ron desantis is a republican from florida and our guest in 30 minutes. to both of you ladies this is what he is proposing. make public all the payments funded by taxpayers that go to claims of sexual harassment in the past. something i think a lot of people did not even know about. number two, bar the use of tax dollars in future to settle harassment claims and require that any member of congress named in the settlement pay by the taxpayers reimburses the money. katie, i think a person of -- let's say sound logic would say that sounds all right. why in the world wasn't this happening before? >> the idea that american taxpayers have sent out $17 million of their hard-earned money so that congressmen can engage in sexual harassment or other kinds of discrimination aga

nancy pelosi and john conyers. here's the truth is people on both sides whether it's way more, conyers, franken, whoever it is. a few serious allegations of sexual assault or harassment you don't need to be in public office. the truth is -- a lot easier than the ones in the private sector. >> it is. members of the congress to enjoy special protections in this area. are democrats blowing an opportunity to really lead on this issue here? >> no, i don't think they are because they have been bills already proposed that they would take up next week. >> canton, the best they can do -- hold on come in the best they can do is propose bills about training? think about when nancy pelosi said about john conyers. this is what she said about roy moore. take a listen. >> were you putting politics ahead of their personal discuss? >> we're talking about a child molester. >> president clinton was accused of being a sexual predator. >> wide-awake talking about how we go forward. trade to come on, and fun pitching solidly the allegat

ready soon, john conyers found out that pretty soon, john conyers found out that people were visiting the office to see rosa parks and not john conyers. [laughter]how about this mr. president? one day she went to him and said she wanted to thank him for allowing her to be honored all over the country and would be willing to take a pay cut for time away from the office. [laughter]because of the leadership of the congressional black caucus and that of leader reid, rosa parks was the first woman to lie in state in the rotunda of the capitol of united states -- of the united states. [applause]on her birth, her mother had song of letting freedom ring. how proud her mother would be to see her baby eulogized at her passing by two presidents, former president clinton and future president barack obama. [applause]imagine that. i had the privilege of speaking at her funeral, too. but what can you say in the company of that greatness? what i said was that legislation had been introduced by jesse jackson junior and senator john kerry - to place the statue of rosa parks in the capital of the united

john conyers is an icon in our country. as john arrives his case, which he knows, which i don't, i believe he will -- >> why don't you? how is it -- >> excuse me, may i finish my sentence? >> sure, sure. >> that he will do the right thing. >> pelosi responded to conyers' decision to step down from the committee saying zero tolerance means consequences. joining me now is leann caldwell. good to talk to you this afternoon. franken says he's going to return to work tomorrow after the break. what more are you learning about that? >> yeah, this will be the first time that we'll see al franken on capitol hill since these allegations came out about ten days ago. he missed those final votes before they left for thanksgiving break, because of this bombshell news. as you said, he spoke to local press today, so tomorrow will be the first time that he will have to face national press. he's usually mostly shy around national reporters. doesn't mostly take their questions. but there'll be a test tomorrow for him to answer some of these q

john conyers, he's a big fish in the house and these are serious allegations against him. >> yeah, it was said earlier that women were afraid to come forward. what i see again and again in these cases, is women were not afraid to come forward. women did come forward and complain, and then the powerful men were surrounded by enablers and systems set up to protect them and keep these women from getting any kind of justice or public action against these men, and that's what enabled them to go on. in the buzzfeed article it alleges years and years of this behavior, an open secret in the office of representative conyers, and it was known he was like this but he was surrounded by people whose job it was to protect him. we see that in congress and hollywood and in the media, these powerful men are insulated by their power, and that's what we are seeing a crack in with all these revelations. >> people around him, protecting him, and also the system protecting these harassers, right? the office of compliance right now is the rule -- as it works on capitol hill, the settlements when they happen

john conyers is an icon in our country. >> do you believe john conyers' accusers? >> do you? they have not really come forward. >> roy moore faces sexual misconduct charges himself and president trump is tweeting his disapproval of moore's challenger, democrat doug jones. trump wrote the last thing we need in alabama and the u.s. senate is a schumer/pelosi pup whoet is weak on crime, weak on the border, bad for our military and wants to raise taxes to the sky. jones would be a disaster. we get to all of this with leann caldwell and ann gerren, james pindel, chris and michael ste e steele. let me start with you here. we're learning about senator franken's strategy in light of what happened today. there's the apology followed by introspection and more apologies after a period of eight days of silence. what is his plan going forward here? he mentions he's going to be back in washington tomorrow. >> that's right. today he spoke just with local press. he hasn't done any national press interviews. tomorrow will be the first time we'll see him on capitol hill since these allegations

if you did not know, you should that rosa parks campaign for john conyers in 1964. she was able to bring martin luther king jr., who was averse to campaigning for politicians, but she was able to convince him to participate in one of the and go to work for congressman conyers for years. strains ofthese two this panel being connected in history. we are going to move to our last presenters, brother david goldberg. and he is going to let you know what his topic is. thank you. david: thank you. i want to be quick because i want to try to get some questions from the audience. my topic is about the league of revolutionary black workers, from the black guard to the revolutionary worker movement to the league of black workers. let me state a little about the components. the first components of black guard signifies the revolutionary action movement, ram, which had a large role in the early machinations of what would become the black revolutionary union movement. a group of students at wayne state in new york formed a group push the whiteo establishment and the black establi

john conyers is an icon in our country. he has done a great deal to protect women. right wing is quoting me as praising him for his work on that and he did great work on that. the fact is as john reviews his case which he knows and i don't. >> how is it that you don't? >> he will do the right thing. >> and shortly after that interview conyers made the announcement that he was giving up his ranking member position on the judiciary committee. president trump continues to push support for senate candidate roy moore who faces a string of sexual assault allegations involving under aged women tweeting this morning quote the last thing we need in alabama and the u.s. senate is a schumer pelosi puppet. bad for our second amendment and wants to raise taxes to the sky. jones would be a disaster. i endorsed luther strange in the primary. it wasn't enough. can't let schumer/pelosi win this race. liberal jones would be bad. here is what republican senator lindsey graham thinks of moore. >> from a republican point of view i don't know what winning looks like with roy moore. if he

reed: is john conyers is lying? i'm asking you. are you saying john conyers is lying? are you saying john conyers is lying? next question. reporter: what about this payout she was given in 2015, $27,000 and change. why was she paid? and the bigger question you might agree with as an attorney, did that come out of his office holder funds and if they did, is that proper and legal, is that akin to embezzlement of those funds if those funds were used for this purpose? mr. reed: embezzlement is not even the correct word in this context. reporter: is that a proper use of those funds? mr. reed: embezzlement is not the right word. you do not know what that means, respectfully. congressman conyers has never embezzled. do you know what that means? reporter: taking funds from improper process. mr. reed: that is not the proper definition. the house committee is determining those issues as we speak. can i talk? since you don't know what embezzlement means? reproter: i do. mr. reed: no, you don't. no, you don't. here's the deal, congressman conyers, the agreement has been vetted. th

they discuss in detail the work of longtime detroit residents rosa parks and john conyers. this was part of asalh's conference. they also provided the video. >> we have three panelists today. i think i have this order right. dr. danielle mcguire who is a great friend from grad school and colleague. she is an author and historian and an independent scholar now and the author of "tat the dark end of the street." we also have -- i have lost track of who is going. i think it's kalonji is going next. dr. kalonji walton who is the director of global black studies at western carolina. and our third panelist is dr. david goldberg who is an associate professor at wayne state university. the chair and commenter today is jamon jordan who is a -- the detroit -- president of the detroit chapter of asalh and a tour leader and historian of all things african-american detroit. really an incredible community scholar out of detroit. a wonderful set of folks, going to help us think about politics in detroit and michigan and how to make sense of that. i'm going to throw it over to the panel no

how serious is this matter facing john conyers? in our last or i should say earlier this hour, mike quigley, a congressman from illinois, democrat, basically said if he were john conyers he would step aside. >> right. if the buzzfeed reporting is true that conyers should step aside and i think you'll have more democrats saying that precisely because, one, we're in this climate where congress realizes it's under scrutiny, two, people in congress, congress owned party feel like they have to step occupy and three there's this total lack of transparency in the way these allegations were handled, handled by this closed office on the hill. apparently according to buzzfeed that a settlement was reached using funds out of congressman conyers own budget rather than separate funds, that is sort of the antithat sis of what they expect from their members of congress. >> can i -- can i just raise another point about john conyers? he's 88 years old and anybody who has spent five minutes in congress watching him in action knows he's out of it. he

they discuss the work of rosa parks and congressman john conyers. >>> we have three panelists today. i think i have this order right. dr. danielle mcguire. a author, historian, and independent scholar and author of path breaking and deeply influential book "the end of the street." and i think it is kalonji going next. dr. kalonji walton professor at north carolina. and dr. david goldberg, an associate professor at wayne state university. the chair and commenter today is jamon jordan, who is the detroit -- president of the detroit chapter of asala and tour leader and historian on all things detroit. a community scholar out of detroit. a wonderful set of folks going to help us think about politics in detroit and michigan and how to make sense of that. so i'm going to throw it over to the panel now. again, thank you for being here. >> right, thank you, patrick. hello, everybody. my name is jamon jordan. real quick before we start with the panel. i want to thank everybody for coming to this session and hearing a little bit about detroit's politics, and particularly the radical politics.

they discuss in detail the work of longtime district presidents rosa parks and congressman john conyers. this event was part of the association for the study of african american life and history's annual conference. they also provided the video. >> we have three panelists today. i think i have this order right. doctor danielle mcguire, is a great friend from grad school and colleagues. she is a author and historian and independent scholar now. she's the author of the path of breaking and deeply influential book, at the dark end of the street. we also have, i've lost track of who's gone, i think it's kalonji who's going next. doctor kalonji walton who is the director of global black studies at western carolina. our third panelist is doctor david goldberg, who isn't associated -- associate professor at wayne state university. the term comment or today is jamon jordan, who is the ditch -- the president of the detroit chapter of a sala. he is a tour leader and historian of all things african american in detroit. really an incredible community scholar out of detroit. a wonderful set of folks

taxpayer checks cleared for john conyers. he was accused of firing women because they didn't give into his sexual demand and taxpayer funds were used to hide this. you had over $48,000 of taxpayer funds used to shush up the victims. john conyers needs to go. they are supposed to be trusted with the power of the purse. we the people invest our trust in them. they are unworthy of that trust. the same standard should afly. -- apply. we have a money trail. they have to go. i would love to see the same people who are saying this stuff about roy moore applying these same principles to conyer and everywhere else. if he left a woman to drown in a pond he would be hailed as the lion of the senate. >> that's the opposite of what i said. the more we make this a partisan issue, the less it becomes about the people. >> do you know why this is a partisan issue? >> [overlapping talking]. >> people have called conyers an icon. women have trouble coming forward because nancy pelosi called this man an icon. our party circles the wagons around

you think john conyers and al franken should resign? >> i believe that if these allegations are true, and i have no reason to doubt the women. i don't have any relationship with them other than what i've read and heard. but it's time to say, we are members of congress. we are in an institution that our people back home have put trust in us to represent them. each of our districts are about 700,000 people. we owe them and we owe the american public better than what they're seeing right now. there should be -- i saw you ask your question earlier about zero toleran tolerance. zero tolerance means very simply that the people in congress and the people whether it's the house or senate shouldn't be behaving in this way. and if they think that's okay behave this way, go somewhere else. >> let me ask you this. a debate, you hear the phrase due process thrown around with members of congress, but i've actually talked with people saying, wait a minute. yes, you get due process in a legal standing as an american citizen. but you know what? as a mem

we got al franken and john conyers. these are credible allegations. this is what frustrates the heck out of me out of democrats what's the standard for republicans, allegations are made, just allegations. o you are supposed to immediately resign if you are a republican. if you are a democrat not just credible allegations allegations made on the record by people and not only that they back these people up and they get theme reelected. it's a joke. >> i'm the one that says i believe like pam says in the last segment the presumption of innocence. you don't rush to judgment. why i was right in ferguson, in baltimore. freddie gray and the duke lacrosse case. i have argued with my friend darryl here a long time about the zimmerman case. you know, we were right about trump, too. and the media rushes to r judgment. darryl parks. but this is 30 years of defending the indefensible. bill clinton was a predator. period, end of sentence. and most democrats, for all that time, defended him. >> we're in a different point now though, sean. >> sean: forget about theif

john conyers is an icon in our country. >> do you believe john conyers? >> i don't know who they are. they have not really come forward. >> you don't know if you believe the accusations? >> that's for the ethics committee to review. >> conyers announced after that interview he's given up his leadership post on the house judiciary committee but is not resigning, and as poor pelosi's insistence waiting for the results of an ethics probe, one of her colleagues is not a fan and here's why. >> saying we'll have these allegations against politicians go before an ethics dm s km s c sometimes take years to decide is not real, no offense to colleagues on the committee, but that's not accountability. >> meanwhile, chuck schumer says sexual harassment is never acceptable but reserving comment on al franken. >> the ethics committee is giving a thorough look into this and that's what should happen with everybody. there should be, there are allegations ought to be first a thorough investigation. let's see the result of that before we make any determination. >> you know

he's the first michigan democrat now calling on john conyers to resign. what was it that finally pushed you to decide this? >> this morning i took a look at the interviews that the two victims gave and just paid close attention to what they said. sort of tested my senses. they were credible. this is painful. i have known john conyers for a very long time. i have served with him here for five years. it doesn't matter where you work. doesn't matter your seniority or partisanship, this behavior can't be tolerated and he has to resign. >> reporter: if he doesn't resign, is there a place for him here? leadership now, d.ic leadership, republican leadership are calling for him to resign. at least one democrat from michigan is calling for him to resign. how would it play out if he decides he's going to come back, like his lawyer said? >> it's a good question. i think he has to ask himself that question. examine his own conscience and determine whether or not he can continue. it's his decision clearly. we also have to be able to speak our own minds. after looking

john conyers. i reiterate that he says that he notified speaker ryan, leader pelosi and governor snyder of his retirement from the united states house of representatives. it is his honor, these are his words and his privilege to serve the constituents of detroit, michigan, as their united states congressman in the 13th and 14th congressional districts for 53 years. he came to congress, this is his statement again, i came to congress in 1964. since then i have devoted my entire career to improving the lives of my constituents in detroit on the behalf of justice everywhere. these years witnessed a profound evolution in civil rights led by millions in the streets who marched for justice and people of conscience in the congress. both democrats and republicans who heard them and enacted the civil rights act, the voting rights act and other land mark reforms. i've been at the forefront of the civil rights movement, i've been a champion of justice for the oppressed and disenfranchised. i never wavered in

for john conyers and the unvailing of his portrait. when people come here to this capital, to this campus of the capital and they will see this painting. and they will know that this is a person who has made a difference in their lives, in their lives. in so many different ways. the first in bringing that intellect, that progressive set of values to it. that different perspective. that was disruptive, that made a difference in all of our lives and for generations to come. that's why it's so appropriate that this evening, we unvail. a portrait of a great man, a great statesman, a disruptive, transformative force in our country. a person that when they unvailed his portrait the vice president stayed to hear somebody else's speech so he could see exactly what was in that portrait. and that is a tremendous compliment to john conyers. thank you, job. [ applause ] >> who's going to pull the string? >> i'm going to bring up your family now. >> all right. >> and this is monica conyers. john conyers, iii and give them all a round of applause to

john conyers lose support as one of his accusers goes before the cameras. you won't see these folks at the post office. they have businesses to run. they have passions to pursue. how do they avoid trips to the post office? stamps.com mail letters, ship packages, all the services of the post office right on your computer. get a 4 week trial, plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again. howie: pundits have been pushing for the resignation of john conyers in the midst of numerous charges of sexual harassment. >> it was violating my body. propositioning me, inviting me to hotels with the guys discussing business, and proposition me for sex. he has touched me in different ways, and it was very uncomfortable and very unprofessional. howie: the house leader dropped her support for her embattled colleague. >> i pray for the congressman and his family and wish him well. but he should resign. howie: how important was marianne brown. she got the settlement with taxpayer money. how important was i